This S’porean stay-at-home mum runs a teh tarik biz solo—she even catered for a 600-pax wedding

Norhidayah (Hidayah) Sabri was content with her career working at a merger and acquisitions company in Singapore—that was, until she gave birth to her second child.

Longing to spend more time with her children, she made the decision to leave her job and become a full-time stay-at-home mother.

Her main focus was to care for her kids, yet she also unexpectedly found herself venturing into entrepreneurship.

Today, she single-handedly runs Teh Tarik Shus Bro, a home-based F&B business catering teh tarik for events across Singapore all on her own.

She self-funded the business

Hidayah had no plans of running a business of her own—in fact, she admitted that she could have “never imagined” herself as an entrepreneur.

But that all changed in 2018—shortly after the birth of her second child, Hidayah’s friends came over for a visit, and to welcome them, her mother-in-law prepared a pot of teh tarik.

The tea was so good that one of her friends suggested she start selling it, and after some thought, she figured—why not?

It started off as just something to pass the time while being a stay-at-home and earn some extra side income while at it. I created an Instagram Business Profile to kickstart the business.

Hidayah self-funded her business with S$500 of her own savings, using the money to source the necessary ingredients for her mother-in-law’s teh tarik recipe and invest in beverage dispensers for catering at large gatherings like as birthday parties and weddings.

After receiving her first few orders, she reinvested her early profits to gradually expand the business, officially registering the business in 2019—but it wasn’t until the COVID-19 pandemic hit that the business truly started to gain traction.

Expanding their offerings

With large social gatherings and events prohibited during the pandemic, many businesses in Singapore were impacted—they were forced to find ways to innovate and adapt, including Teh Tarik Shus Bro.

As the business mainly sold to customers for large gatherings with a minimum order of five liters (which is about 25 servings), Hidayah decided to introduce new packaging options, including three-litre cardboard boxes and plastic pouches, which piqued the interest of customers.

These new packaging options allowed people to enjoy the brand’s teh tarik in smaller quantities, leading to a “surge in popularity” especially during Ramadan in 2020.

As the COVID-19 restrictions kept people apart, many customers began ordering the boxes and pouches as gifts for the friends and family they couldn’t meet.

A one-man show

To date, the largest event Hidayah has catered for was a 600-pax wedding. She also regularly fulfills weekly orders for Hajj classes and church gatherings.

Though the business broke even in its first year, given the minimal initial investment, it took three years for Teh Tarik Shus Bro to become “financially sustainable.”

But getting there wasn’t a walk in the park, as Hidayah had no prior F&B experience.

In the early days of the business, she had to learn how to tweak her mother-in-law’s recipe to accommodate larger orders. “Instead of daily preparation for home consumption, I had to learn the recipe for bigger quantities to be able to cater to the masses,” she shared.

“We also had to ensure quality is the same throughout, so we [created] specific measurements for everything, and it has never changed up to this day.”

After perfecting the recipe, her business began to grow. But despite the increasing demand and uptick in orders, it has always been a one-man operation—and it still is today.

Each drink is made on an order-by-order basis, and beyond preparation, Hidayah also manages marketing, logistics, restocking, customer inquiries, and delivery arrangements.

That said, when she’s short on drivers, her family occasionally steps in to help with Teh Tarik Shus Bro’s deliveries.

If demand exceeds her ability to fulfill them, Hidayah stops taking new orders to ensure her offerings are of quality without overwhelming herself. For Ramadan this year, she is already nearly fully booked and has stopped taking orders.

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Though Teh Tarik Shus Bro has seen steady growth over the past six years, Hidayah isn’t planning to open a physical store anytime soon.

She shared that she is content with her current business model, which allows her to balance running the business with spending time with her two sons at home.

However, she still aims to expand the business’s reach, with the goal of making Teh Tarik Shus Bro a “household name.”

Our aim has always remained the same, no matter how big or small we are, we want to ensure the quality of our teh tarik remains consistent throughout. I strongly believe, as long as the quality remains the same, the business’s name will grow by itself.

Featured Image Credit: Teh Tarik Shus Bro